The first things most people think of when it comes to New Orleans are the beads and booze of Mardi Gras. The city is much more than these well-known traditions, however, and was founded by many diverse cultures which continue to flourish today.

The rich history, colorful sights, jazzy sounds and spicy food can be seen, heard and tasted throughout the city. New Orleans is a virtual melting pot of ethnic traditions and cultures. Many longtime residents can trace their heritage to African, French, Canadian, Spanish, Caribbean, Haitian and Native American ancestors.

Facts about New Orleans

• Canal Street - once the world's widest street - was originally intended to be a canal. Though the project was never completed, the street maintained the name.
• The Canal Street streetcar is America's oldest operating streetcar.
• Originally founded as just a trading camp in 1718, the city was later reorganized in a rectangular grid, which still exists today as The French Quarter.
• New Orleans was home to the first opera house in America.
• The city's first "skyscraper" was a four-story building built in 1807 in the French Quarter, and it is still in use today.
• Chess master Paul Morphy was born in a house in the French Quarter. Today it is a museum.
• The terms Cajun and Creole are shrouded in controversy. Who and what were identified as either has changed several times throughout history.
• New Orleans was the original capital of the French colony of Louisiana and was also twice state capital of Louisiana.
• New Orleans is widely considered the birthplace of Jazz.
• The celebration of Mardi Gras came to New Orleans from Paris, where it had been celebrated since the middle ages.
• America's Most Interesting City appears on many of the welcome signs to the city.
• During Monday Night Football on September 25, 2006, just before kickoff at the reopening of The Superdome, Green Day and U2 debuted a charity single in which they declared "The Saints Are Coming." The Saints went on to defeat the Atlanta Falcons 23-3 that night.
• Trumpeter Louie Armstrong, rocker Phil Anselmo, rock n' roll pianist Fats Domino, rapper Juvenile and the Neville family are just a small selection of the diverse and musically rich artists who are from New Orleans.
• The city sits along the Mississippi River in southeastern Louisiana. It borders Lake Pontchartrain to the north and the Gulf of Mexico to the east. New Orleans came to be known as the "Crescent City" because of the shape it took when it grew to border these bodies of water.
• "Hollywood South" is a reference to the large amount of films - both large and small - shot in and about the city since 2002. A new movie studio complex is set to be built in the Treme section of town.

Despite the recent tragedy brought about by Hurricane Katrina, there remains a diverse culture embedded in the city from a history of African, Caribbean and Native Americans having tightly intertwined their traditions with the French, Canadian, Irish, Italian and German American settlers who all made New Orleans home. There are countless books, classes, websites and other resources that detail the difference between Cajun and Creole, but suffice to say, chances are the food will be spicy - jambalaya and gumbo are favorites.

One of New Orleans's other nicknames, "The Big Easy," is rumored to have many possible meanings. Some say it originated when musicians in the early 1900s described how easy it was to land work in the city. Other theories were related to the city's history of lax liquor laws or how it was once one of the cheapest American cities in which to live. After the release of the 1987 movie The Big Easy, the term came into the vernacular of the rest of the country. The Big Easy has come to represent the general good times and offbeat culture that has grown out of a city with so many culturally unique backgrounds.

Sources:

http://www.neworleansonline.com/tools/factstats.html
(Accessed March 1st, 2007)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans
(Accessed March 2, 2007)

http://www.atneworleans.com/body/main.htm
(Accessed March 1st 2007)